Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

The whole family laughed.

Li said, "You speak as if you have raised one. You are so sure."

Zhou Guo waved his folding fan and said, "Although I have never raised crabs before, I can tell by just thinking about it. In a few days, we will have crabs at home. Starting tomorrow, we have to dig ditches in the fields. Otherwise, the crabs will run away while we are raising them, so wouldn't it be a waste of time?"

Zhou Mai said: "But there are not many people at home, my elder brother and his family haven't come back yet, and we can't leave the mountain."

Zhou Guo said, "Then hire someone to do it. If there is no one in the village to do it, let's get people from other villages to do it. Tomorrow I will take Wu Jiang and the others to dig out the two acres of land by the river. The crab field needs to be raised and reinforced. I have to go and complete it the day after tomorrow morning. Master, I'm leaving now. Please keep an eye on it."

The old man nodded and was very happy to do this. After all, crabs are really delicious!

Zhou Mi asked, "You exchanged a piece of tender tofu for someone's crab seedlings, and they agreed so easily?"

Crabs are precious and even more rare.

Zhou Guo said: "Why not agree? He won't suffer any loss."

He repeated what he had said to Shopkeeper Yang.

After saying this, the family thought about it and it seemed to make some sense. Although crabs are expensive, there are many of them in the world, but tender tofu is unique.

Zhou Guo said: "I think he not only did not suffer any loss, but also got the advantage. They have so many restaurants. If they serve this dish, it will be a unique dish of theirs. Other restaurants don't have it. With such a unique business, they don't know how much money they can make."

The old man asked, "Did you promise him that you would only eat the crab fry yourself and not sell them outside?"

He still remembered what Zhou Guo said a few years ago. He had been looking forward to it every year, but it finally came this year.

Zhou Guo smiled and said, "I said I would use it for my own consumption, but I didn't say I wouldn't sell it outside. However, I definitely can't sell it in Yunzhou. He can't control me in other places. So, I have to choose a place and dig a big pond. It would be better if there is a ready-made pond. Ten acres of paddy fields at home are definitely not enough."

The family looked at each other and felt that this business seemed to be more worthwhile. Crabs are much more expensive than tofu!

On the second day, Wu Jiang found six temporary workers from somewhere. Zhou Guo took them to the two acres of paddy fields that he had bought a few years ago and taught them how to dig ditches, where to dig ditches, and how to reinforce the ridges.

Everyone did as the master asked, even though they didn't know why they did it or why such wide and deep ditches were dug in the fields. They didn't ask, they just did whatever the master told them to do as long as they were paid.

Wu Jiang asked curiously: "Master, what are you digging this for?"

Zhou Guo said, "You will know in a few days. Look carefully at home and find out which land is suitable for digging a pond. Choose a large piece and hire some temporary workers to dig a large pond and bring the river water in."

Wu Jiang replied: "Yes."

She spent a day in the field and taught Wu Jiang everything. "As the general manager, you have to watch over this. There can be no mistakes. If anything is not done well, the things might get lost."

Wu Jiang said excitedly: "Yes."

I also know what Zhou Guo wants to raise in the field, probably fish, but I have never heard of raising fish in the field, and I don’t know if it will work.

In the late night, Zhou Guo left again, and she had to go to Manager Qin in person.

When Shopkeeper Qin saw her, he smiled and said, "Mr. Zhou, you are so glad to come in. I see that you seem to have grown taller. You are changing more and more every year."

Zhou Guo smiled and said, "I see that Manager Qin is also in high spirits. Tell me if there is any happy news recently. Have you had another grandson?"

Shopkeeper Qin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "No, no, you are kidding. I've been looking forward to your coming. Did you bring me something good?"

Zhou Guo pointed to the backyard and said, "Let's go to the backyard and take a look."

Boxes of goods were unloaded and sacks of flower mushrooms were placed on the ground.

Shopkeeper Qin looked at them one by one and exclaimed, "This is incredible! You actually grew them. They are so fresh and tender. Are there so many in these baskets?"

Zhou Guo smiled and nodded, "Of course, here are more than 500 kilograms of goat mushrooms, more than 400 kilograms of flower mushrooms, and 500 pine eggs, all of which you want."

Shopkeeper Qin nodded, looked through a few baskets, then a few bags of flower mushrooms, and finally a few baskets of eggs. "Nowadays, wild delicacies are grown in your own vegetable garden. Only you have this ability. I have never heard of it since ancient times. It's a pity that you were born in a farming family, otherwise you would be famous in history!"

Zhou Guo didn't care about being recorded in history. What was the point of being recorded in history if she was dead?

After the meal and signing the documents, Zhou Guo wrote a few prescriptions for Manager Qin as usual, and added one more: century egg and lean meat porridge.

Shopkeeper Qin looked at the recipe and asked suspiciously, "This thing has a strong smell, can it be used to cook porridge?"

Zhou Guo said, "You will know if it works after you try it. I have given you the recipe. To be honest, I only gave you three elsewhere, and I gave you one more."

Shopkeeper Qin said with a smile, "Thank you very much, my friend. Anyway, it's still early, so don't rush out of the city. Go and see how these wild delicacies and preserved eggs are selling in the restaurant. How about it?"

Zhou Guo thought about it and nodded, "Well, let me see how people come and go in your Fu Man Lou."

Shopkeeper Qin sat down for a while and then went to work.

After Zhou Guo finished his meal, he sat for a while, waited until the sun rose, listened to the noise in the building gradually becoming louder, and then went out.

When I went out to take a look, I saw that the hall on the first floor was full, and there were only two small tables by the windows on the second floor and a few private rooms still empty.

"Waiter, what dishes do you have today?"

"Ah? Stir-fried fresh goat mushrooms? How much is one serving? Seven hundred coins per serving. OK, go ahead."

"What is this? What is this black dish? Preserved egg? The name sounds nice, but what is that dish? I didn't order it. Was it given to me as a gift? Let me try it... Hmm, not bad, not bad, fragrant, the egg yolk inside is really fragrant, you guys should try it too."

There are small plates like this on all the tables in the lobby, filled with small dishes of cold preserved eggs. They are free, so naturally everyone likes to eat them.

Zhou Guo took a look and saw that there were only six or seven duck cloves in the small dish. He didn't even take the two duck eggs, but the name of the cold-mixed preserved eggs was promoted. It seemed that Manager Qin did have a way.

As for sheep mushrooms, this thing is a wild delicacy. On ordinary spring days, you can eat it if someone sells it in the vegetable market. If not, you can't even eat it if you want.

She saw the waiter walking around the tables, and when they were waiting to order, he would say, "The restaurant has just got a new batch of lamb mushrooms, would you like to try some?"

Anyone who can dine in such a big restaurant is not short of money and can afford a plate of lamb mushrooms.

Most people were interested and ordered a plate. It was not easy to get it at normal times. After all, it was the provincial capital, and the food from each village was consumed in its own county. There was not much left here. Not much flowed into the provincial capital's vegetable market every year.

Soon, dishes of steaming food were served on the table.

Zhou Guo looked at their reactions and found that this dish was very popular. One plate was not enough and they ordered a second plate.

In just a short while, she saw people at four tables ordering a second plate.